Battle of the Finest
by StarLove18
Summary: There's trouble on the loose. The conch is missing and the boys go to war against each other!
1. Meet Your Maker

Disclaimer: Lord of the Flies is the property of William Golding.

A/N: The boys will be looking the way they do in the films. I've used the book descriptions for the b&w version because it's easier for me to keep up that way, also to save confusion. Enjoy!

* * *

(01) Meet Your Maker

One day on an island of castaways, there was something pretty unusual. Something strange. Piggy was the first boy to wake up that morning and take a walk down the beach. He was cleaning his specs when Ralph came running to him. The plump boy didn't take notice until the blond shouted in his ear.

"Where's the conch?" Ralph asked in hysteria.

"It's s'posed to be at camp," Piggy replied, putting his specs back on.

"But it's nowhere to be found!" Ralph panicked. "There's no way I could call an assembly without it."

Piggy stared up at the sky to see the sun coming out. He looked at the shelters and palm trees from a distance. Everything looked normal, except for the log where Ralph normally sat in the mornings. The shiny shell would be sitting there, left untouched since many of the boys saw it as a connection with society. They had great respect for it since their first meeting was held. Sadly enough, it wasn't there this time.

"There might be someone else here," Piggy said. "We might not be the only kids 'round here."

"That's not possible!" Ralph stammered. "Go and get the others!"

"I can't run," the plump boy reminded him. "On account of my asthma-"

"Sucks to your ass-mar!"

Piggy sighed heavily, turned on his heel and headed back to camp. Before he made it back, the sound of the shell hit his ears. He spun around frantically, wondering where it was coming from. Chances are Ralph had finally found it. Most of the boys were out of their shelters now, stretched their arms and rubbed their eyes. Jack was the first one to speak.

"Where's Ralph?" he asked.

"I don't know. Somewhere near the beach, I think."

The tall redhead frowned at him. "Then go get him!" he commanded. "Don't just stand there!"

"Why don't you go look for 'im instead?" Piggy suggested. For a few seconds, there was an awkward silence. Most of the choir boys stood there, wondering where their chief was. For some unknown reason, Piggy wasn't scared of Jack this time. Normally he would've ran away from the fear of getting punched in the belly. He tried to dig deep and find an alternative, but it turns out he'll never find out. This seemed pretty unusual for a start.

"Fine," Jack said. "Make sure you babysit those littluns or else you'll be sorry!"

He left with a trot down the beach. Piggy just stood there and stared at his enemy. Now that Jack was out of the way, he didn't mind what happened next.

"Why don't we go for a swim?" Maurice asked.

"Go ahead," Piggy replied. "Ralph should be back sometime soon." As he looked from a distance, a fat kid picked up what looked like the conch.

"Aye! Guys, I think I know where the conch is."

The others paid no attention to him. He walked down to the spot where he saw the other kid held the shell. Not only was this boy fat, he also had very short hair and wore a pair of glasses. Where was he from? What gave him the right to steal the conch that he and Ralph found three weeks ago? There was only one way to find out. Piggy decided it was time to talk some sense into this person.

"Hey! How did you get that?" Piggy asked.

"I found it first!" the other boy snapped. "Who are you anyway?"

"I'm not telling you until you give the shell back," Piggy stated. Just then another boy dressed in a military uniform arrived.

"What's that?" he asked.

"It's a cown-ch!" the fat kid replied. "My grandmother had one." The military boy looked interested. "If you put your mouth right there you could blow it. Like a trumpet."

The older boy took it and observed what looked beautiful in his eyes. He never took notice of Piggy's presence. As he walked away, the fat kid looked at Piggy and gave him a grin.

"That was my conch!" Piggy detested."You stole it on purpose!"

"I found it first," his rival said. "Go get another one!"

"You can't explain things well," Piggy told him. "And I'll do whatever it takes to get it back."

"Like that's gonna help," his rival stated. "There's no way you'll get your shell back."

"Jus' you wait!" Piggy snapped. He turned on his heel and headed back to camp.

x-x-x

The fair-haired boy stood behind a large tree. He was stunned and shocked at what he saw. The most significant tool of his leadership was in the hands of another boy. This boy was holding the conch. He's the one who stole it!

'How could this be possible?' Ralph thought to himself. 'If anything happens, me and the others would've heard it!'

He remained quiet and still in the best way he could. The boy he was staring at had brown hair and the same built as himself. There were several boys who stood around in a semi-circle, wearing what looked like school uniforms. Ralph was astonished when he saw a fat boy with a haircut and pubby nose, wearing specs. This other boy reminded him of Piggy! There's no way this was real. This was too good to be true! Chances are the taller boy who held the conch was...

...himself.

Ralph shook his head and started banging the tree trunk with his fist. Frantic and frustrated, he wanted to scream and wake up. It was only a dream. This wasn't supposed to happen. If it was, he'd have to face another set of boys that would steal his position. Just then the tall boy arrived, patting Ralph's shoulder.

"It's a good thing I found you," greeted Jack. "I was starting to get worried."

Ralph turned and looked at him. "Jack, there seems to be a problem. A major problem!"

"Problem?" Jack was oblivious.

"Look this way," Ralph said, pointing to the group of boys. Jack's eyes widened. The two remained silent as they listened intently to the discussion of these other boys.

"They speak Yankee in comparison to us," Jack said distastefully. "From what I see, they're from some army or something."

"Maybe they're the enemy," Ralph told him. "They stole the conch while we slept." He paused for a moment before speaking up again. "How do we face them?"

"I'll go get my hunters," Jack said. "Then we'll show these guys who's boss!"

"But that would lead to another war," a soft, tender voice spoke. Both older boys turned around to see Simon and many of the other boys behind him.

"We gave up on playing and decided to search for you guys," Maurice said.

Before Ralph could say anything, Jack spoke up. "Well, I hate to say that one of our items have been stolen."

"What's that?" asked a few boys in one voice.

"The conch was missing," Ralph explained, trying to keep his composure. "Luckily we've found it, but the-"

"Yankees stole it!" Jack shouted. "They're not British like us! Chances are they don't know much about survival."

"Let's punish them!" Roger hollered. "Then we'll give them to the beast!"

Just then the cute, little boys shuddered in their places. The 'beastie', so they called it, has been haunting them for days and nights. There was no way it could exist, but the more someone mentioned it, the fearful they've become. Piggy smacked his head in response to their actions. They were loud enough to attract unwanted attention. He felt a knot in his stomach as he was able to predict what was coming next. The other group of boys that stood on the other side looked in their direction. 'I guess this means trouble,' Piggy thought. 'Thanks to Jack and Roger for being so loud. Now they've heard us!' The fear of intimidation dawned on him once again, even though he felt brave earlier. He wished there was a way to turn back time, but it was too late.

"I think they're coming this way," Simon said.

"What are we-"

"-gonna do?" the twins asked.

"I'll reason with them," Ralph said.

"No! We'll protect you guys," Jack said, motioning his hunters to come closer. "We'll put these criminals in their place for stealing something from our property!"

"But Jack!" Ralph shouted. "What if you get hurt? What if we're no match for them?"

"We've hunted and killed pigs!" Jack argued. "Therefore, we can defeat these invaders!"

"Let's go back to camp before th-"

"Shhh!"

The boys kept silent as a small boy named Peter approached them.

"Where are you guys from?" he kindly asked. The British boys laughed at him except for Simon, Piggy and Ralph.

"We're from England," Simon replied. "Sorry we made too much noise. We didn't mean to disturb you guys."

"We've come to take our conch back," Ralph said.

"But Piggy has it," Peter replied, pointing to the fat boy in the uniform. Piggy's eyes widened. Not only did that boy look so much like him, but they both had the same name! "I'll go and ask him for it," the little boy went on. Ralph nodded as the short boy ran towards one of his peers. It wasn't long before some of the older Americans confronted the British.

"Who are you guys? Where are you from?" asked a Spanish boy named Pablo.

"We already said where!" Jack snapped. "So much for listening!"

There was an awkward silence. No one else wanted to speak, for now. They already felt intimidated and turned to walk away when a tall, thin boy with piercing blue eyes arrived at the scene.

"What's going on here?" he asked with authority in his voice. Jack froze. There were some similarities about these new boys, and this boy he was staring at had golden blond hair in comparison to his fiery red hair. He would be the same height as him, and he looked just as mad. This made him jealous to see another person who could possibly steal his position.

'If only I could beat up this kid,' Jack thought. 'It's the only thing I want right now.'

"What are you staring at?" the other boy asked, interrupting his thoughts. He was the only shirtless boy on this section of the island. It reminded him of their first meeting, when he arrived with his choir. His uniform had a golden pin on it. This made him think more rationally. The other boy he examined held a sharpened stick and stood there, just like him! Roger whispered in Jack's ear.

"I think he's also a hunter," he said. "You're in for a competition."

"Um, hello! Are you deaf?"

"I'm not deaf!" Jack snapped. "Do you have any manners?"

"Of course I do, compared to you!"

"That's where you're wrong," Jack argued. "If you had any manners, you never would've asked what I'm staring at the way you did!"

At this point many of the boys formed a circle around the two head hunters. They were both nose-to-nose now, exchanging icy glares. "Do you know who you're messing with?" asked the blonde.

"I think you should ask yourself that question," the redhead retaliated. "I'm chapter chorister of the choir. I can sing a high C-sharp!" He glanced at the spear his opponent held. "If you want a challenge, then we'll see who the better hunter is!"

"Dream on, pal!" snapped the blonde, "I bet I can sing better than you. To top it off, I've got the best singing voice at military!"

Jack shook his head. "At least my stick is sharpened better than yours!"

The other boy frowned at him. "Your stick is small. Way too small! And the reason why I'm much better than you is because people think I'm high class!"

"High class? You look more like a bum without a T-shirt," Jack detested. "And the blond hair doesn't suit you. In fact, people back at school used to call me Merridew. That's the true meaning of high class. So from now on, call me Merridew!"

The other boy tightened his grip on his spear. He didn't show his feelings of shock. "How about flipping the script," he suggested. "My stick is longer and more pointy than yours. I was trained in the military, compared to you who only went to school and the library."

"Liar! You're just saying that because you're a scaredy-cat, like Piggy!" Jack snapped. He felt a little surprised that this boy had a hint of arrogance and showed it with boldness. Maybe they were both related. As long as he could sing and hunt better than his new found rival, life would be perfect.

"How do you know who Piggy is?"

Jack stepped back and looked around, pointing to a fat kid with glasses. His rival stepped aside and did the same, pointing to another fat kid with glasses. This was too good to be true. "What's your name?" he asked the blonde.

The blonde stepped up to him and whispered in his ear, "Jack Merridew, but call me Jack for now."

Jack's eyes widened in shock. He couldn't believe what he was hearing, let alone what was happening. If he was speaking to himself, then why did he go to military and have blond hair like Ralph? He quickly shook off the thought and regained his composure. "You know what? You can call me Jack for now, but after I beat you at singing and hunting you'll have no other choice but to call me Merridew."

"I had the same train of thought," the blonde replied. "All the same, I'll be the winner."

"No, I'll be the winner," the redhead stated. "I know you can't hunt like me."

"Oh, really?" his counterpart challenged him.

"Definitely!"

Roger remained quiet in all of this. He was egging his friend when he noticed a grey-eyed boy who stood right next to the blonde, staring at him. He decided to return the favour and stared back. They stayed like this for several minutes, in their never-ending staring contest! Maurice shook his friend but received no reply. 'What's up with Roger today?' he wondered. Samneric decided to leave and go back to their camp, but they were both stopped by another set of twins.

"Oh my gosh!"

"I can't believe-"

"-what I'm-"

"-seeing!"

"What are your names?" the other twins asked in one voice.

"I'm Sam."

"I'm Eric."

"Sam and Eric?" They both looked at each other with raised eyebrows. "We're Sam and Eric!"

Astonished, the four boys stood there, sharing wide grins. They started conversing with each other about their favourite hobbies, after school activities, and everything else. From the looks of things, they're the only ones getting along so far.

x-x-x

Simon watched everything that took place. He decided to leave and go to his sanctuary since no one was watching. Little did he know another curious figure was right on his tail. By the time he bent down to crawl into his secret place, he heard a tree branch snap. Alarmed, he quickly looked up and saw a boy with green eyes and curly auburn hair. Simon slowly got on his feet, never taking his eyes off the other boy. Once he stood, the other boy spoke.

"Sorry if I startled you," he began. "Me and the others, we crashed here yesterday."

"Makes sense," Simon replied. "Did you guys go on an expedition?"

"Yea, but some boy called Piggy found a shell. Ralph blew into it. I saw."

Simon was taken back by that comment. Piggy? And Ralph? This did sound rather strange.

"Your group saw us?" Simon asked the other boy.

"No. We've never seen you guys before."

"Then how did you guys find our conch?" Simon inquired. This was becoming more and more confusing than before.

"In the beach water," the boy replied. "Unless a few people went on a scavenger hunt for shells. Some of the boys from my group have an obsession with sea shells."

Simon nodded. At least he understood what led to this. His companion was walking out of the forest. "Wait! What's your name?" he asked quickly. The light brunette stopped and turned to face the other boy.

"Excuse my bad manners," he said with a smile. "My name is Simon." Just as he extended his hand, the other boy fainted.


	2. Plots and Plans

A/N: Thanks for the reviews you guys! They're greatly appreciated and I'm glad you're enjoying this. Now, on with the show!

Disclaimer: If I owned Lord of the Flies, Piggy and I would eat all the sweets that exist ;)

(02) Plots and Plans

At the end of the day, the boys went back to their respective places.

Or rather, sides.

Ralph, Piggy and Jack were up discussing the problematic tensions on the rise. The majority of British kids couldn't sleep. They all sat up in their shelters and talked about the "Yankees". It turns out none of them has ever forgotten what they've learned back in History class.

The Americans were once British. After the explorers made their discovery of a mass piece of land, they took it, claimed it as their own, and sent for more of their people. Sometime later on, the Declaration of Independence was made shortly after a conflict between the Americans and British. They've stripped themselves of their original ways and went on to modernize their lifestyles. Their modesty. Their accents.

"I can't believe it," Ralph said. "Some of those kids have the exact same names as us!"

"Yes, they do," Jack replied. "I mean, that foolish boy has brought my family name to shame!"

"They sound a lil' mature," Piggy added. "And they look like it with those haircuts." Jack shot a glance at him. "What?" Piggy asked.

"Those sissies aren't mature!" Jack detested. "If they were, they never would've stolen our conch!"

"I'm only talking 'bout their appearances," Piggy stated. "If you don't believe me, then go look for yourself."

"You're batty!"

This situation Ralph was now in became more complicating. Jack and Piggy always had a problem with each other from the very beginning. No matter how much he brings the group together, they both had issues and held them against each other. If he had the conch right now, he would've been able to split up the argument both boys had by waving it. To see the glimmering shell in his hands would've quieted them down.

"Boys!" Ralph called. "Listen, I have no idea how those boys got here, but since we're English and they're Yankee, we must get our conch back."

"That means we must fight them!" Jack snapped. "My hunters are sharpening their sticks right now, so everything will be ready soon."

"What's the use of starting another war?" Piggy asked. "The second World War is already taking place as we speak."

"Then let's have an island war!" Jack exclaimed.

An island war sounded like fun to Jack. He wanted to fight the other boy named Jack. If it was possible, he would've snuck up to the other side and make an 'agreement' with him prior to their war. To win the victory would be the best thing he ever wanted, and he'll do whatever it takes as chapter chorister and head hunter to show their opponents what he's made of. Since his choir went hunting for pigs, their skills have excelled greatly and they had the legs of jaguars. However, Ralph wasn't sure about having a war. An agreement would be fine, but a war...

Some things were meant to be left alone.

"I think your idea is a little too far out," Ralph told him.

"Don't forget this is what got us stuck 'ere," Piggy went on. "If we go to war with those impostors, we'll be stuck here for good!"

"Shut-up Fatty!" Jack snapped rudely. "You're jealous of my ideas!"

"No I'm not!" Piggy argued.

Ralph took a stick nearby and slapped a rock with it. The boys stopped their ranting and looked at him.

"Too bad the conch isn't here anymore," he muttered. "Now things will be much harder to handle."

Both Jack and Piggy remained quiet. Without the conch, how can they survive and maintain order? They had to get it back somehow, because there's no way they can survive without it. At this point many boys came and sat in a circle. None of them looked happy. That's when Piggy decided to speak up.

"I just remembered there was this fat kid who picked up the shell," he explained. "I don't know why, but when I asked to give it back he had the attitude of a snob."

'Sounds interesting,' Jack thought. 'I'll give poor Piggy a break and pick on the other one.' The thought was amusing to him.

"Why didn't you take it back?" Percival asked.

"If I were him, I would've picked up sand and threw it in his eyes," Johnny stated. "Then he would give the conch back."

Just then Percival burst into tears. He got up and ran into a shelter nearby, afraid that Johnny would attack him then. The three older boys looked at him.

"I was talking about the impostor that stole the conch!" he said quickly.

Just then Robert and Maurice came.

"Sorry to interrupt, but does anyone know where Simon is?" they asked in unison. Ralph got up from where he sat. He can't recall seeing Simon among them when they left the area. He still found it strange how the small boy would just randomly disappear out of the blue.

"He's batty," Jack said. The other boys looked at him.

"Maybe he went for a bathe," Ralph assumed. "Who knows? He's been out in the sun too long."

"What if he fainted somewhere out there?" Bill asked as he approached them. Robert and Maurice shot glances at each other.

"I think it would be a great idea if we all went out," Ralph suggested. The boys shook their heads.

"Not in the dark," Bill stated. "Who knows? Those boys we saw earlier might be savages compared to us."

"You mean they're more prone to savagery," Maurice corrected him. "They're not even English-"

"Simon's in trouble!" Henry interrupted. "They're gonna kill him!"

"Maybe they're the beastie that haunts us at night!" cried Rupert.

"Boys!" Jack hollered. "Calm down. There's no need to panic."

Ralph looked around and counted all the boys. "We make an army much bigger than theirs," he said. "If it is possible, we can take them down. But first we gotta go find Simon."

"Simon can find his way," said Roger. "But if you want, I'll go look for him by myself." The boys stared at him.

"The littluns need us, Roger," Jack said. "Besides, if we should go then Piggy will stay here and babysit."

Piggy quickly shook his head. He wasn't in the mood for watching a bunch of little boys run around this time.

"Why don't-"

"-we go-"

"-look for-"

"-him?" asked Samneric, pointing to each other. The boys nodded their heads in approval as the twins walked out of the circle.

"As long as you make it back alive," Roger told them. The twins shivered at his comment, but they weren't afraid yet.

Deep down, they had other plans. They would look for Simon, and since they're both on fire watch tonight it wouldn't be a bad idea to bring their new friends along.

-x-x-x-

Simon woke up, regaining his consciousness. There was something strange about where he was. As he rubbed his head, he noticed a bunch of sharpened sticks that circled around him. He felt frightened and feared what might happen next.

"He's awake," Peter said. "Chances are he'll tell us about his plans."

Simon was now confused. He was surrounded by a bunch of boys, but these were the boys he didn't know. As he sat up, the American hunters each took three steps back. Simon got on his feet and looked around, observing the area. It looked quite familiar, like this morning. He turned around and made his way out, but two hunters got in his way.

"Where do you think you're going?" Roger asked.

"Somewhere," Simon replied.

"You're not going anywhere," Jack told him.

"But I don't belong here," Simon told them. "I must go back to my side."

"I must go back to my side," Jack mimicked. Roger, Tony, Steve and Andy chuckled at his imitation of the small boy. "You must tell us about these boys of yours," Jack continued. "Then you'll be free to go back."

Simon froze. He had the slightest idea what their ulterior motives were. If he told them about Piggy's intelligence, Jack's singing ability, or Ralph's leadership skills, he'd be in tons of trouble. "If you really want to know, go and ask them yourself," Simon said.

"Oh, come on," Jack groaned. "You went to school with these guys and know nothing about them?"

"Maybe he's a weirdo," Roger told him. "But he is cute."

"Let's adopt him," Greg suggested, crawling out of his shelter nearby. The other boys shared a grin, except for Simon. He was mentally finding a way to escape the bad guys, but it seemed impossible. The hunters took both his arms and dragged him into another shelter when he saw the other boy with his name.

Simon.

'What's he doing there all by himself?' he asked inwardly. 'He looks lonely. I wonder if these guys ever talk to him.' His thoughts were interrupted as he fell to the ground beneath him. 'Impostors,' he thought. 'I'll be out of here in no time!' He visualized Simon on the other side, near a tent, watching what was going on. 'We both think the same way,' he convinced himself. 'I mean, he has the same eyes I have.' His thoughts were interrupted as the taller boys came inside. They interrogated him for what seemed like hours. No matter how hard they tried to get through to him, he refused to answer. Finally, they gave up and left him in the shelter by himself.

The hunters now stood outside, discussing their issues with the British boys.

"There's this boy I want to challenge," Roger began.

"Is he the one you had a staring contest with?" Andy asked. "I must admit, he looks creepy."

"Yea seriously," said Tony. "I think that boy is the monster."

"Tony!" Jack snapped. "How many times do I have to say that monsters don't exist?"

"Since the night you told us that _scary_ story," Tony replied sarcastically.

"I had nightmares since then," Steve told them.

"Then let's sneak up and kill him," Jack said. "Besides, we'll have those wee little boys on the other side crying in no time!"

Simon's eyes widened. They must've snuck up last night, stole the conch and scared the littluns. They put the conch in the beachwater and left it floating there, so that Piggy, their Piggy, would find it and give it to _their_ Ralph. As he gathered the clues and stuck them together, he planted them somewhere in his mind so that he won't have any trouble telling the others.

On a second thought, why were they taller? Normally, Ralph and Jack would be the tallest boys on the island. The rest of them fell short in height, as the ages gradually fell. He stood somewhere in the very middle. In fact, were the Americans teenagers? He didn't want to believe that since they acted quite immature in his opinion.

"Um, okay now Jack's the monster!" Tony shrieked. "Run for it!" The rest of the hunters dashed in seperate directions, all except for Jack and Roger.

Simon secretly chuckled to himself while he watched this, until the next thought hit him. 'They're scared of a monster,' he thought. 'Just like how my side fears the beast...' He felt his head spin. This was crazy! Both terms shared something in common. 'I gotta find a way out of here,' he thought. As he scanned the wide shelter he sat in, he saw a big hole in the back. Turns out they're not so good at making shelters! Simon took this opportunity as an advantage. He turned to look behind, just to see the Americans complaining about what they should do. Carefully, slowly, Simon snaked his way out of the shelter from the back. None of the boys who argued took notice. With his swift feet he ran into the forest without looking back. A bunch of creepers attacked him and he tripped over a strong leg.

He looked up to see a buff boy staring down at him. He looked quite handsome, but he had a devilish glint in his eye.

"What's your name?" Simon asked timidly.

"Roger," came the sudden reply, "and I really like you, but no one else is supposed to know."

Simon quickly crawled away with escape as the sole goal. He already felt scared of his tormentor and the farther he crawled, the closer the older boy came. At this point he was leaning against a tree when Roger leaned in closer.

"I saw when you left, kid," he said. "I'm not that stupid in case that's what you thought."

Simon shook when a cold hand touched his cheek. He felt there was nothing he could do to save himself and the others.

"Samneric to the rescue!" the twins hollered as they jumped on Roger. Roger quickly wrestled with them, but they had swift moves and good reflexes as they held him down. "Run Simon, run!" they told him.

Simon quickly got on his feet and made a run for it. He struggled to get through the forest normally, but his fainting spells came over him. At the last minute, the small boy fell to the ground when Roger caught him just in time.

"My batty boy," he whispered, "you always throw a faint." He looked into the forest and wondered what has become of the twins.

-x-x-x-

"Let me go!" Sam snapped. Roger grabbed his hair and pulled much harder. "Ow!"

"He's not easy!" Eric complained. He quickly kicked the vicious boy in the belly. Roger gave up on Sam's hair and grunted as he held his abdomen.

"You're not gonna get away with this," he told them. He bent over, feeling a little sick inside. The twins watched him as they pointed to each other.

"You can't mess with us!" they exclaimed. In a split second, they turned on their heels and ran deeper into the forest. Somewhere along the way, both boys took notice of light on the mountain. They ran further down when they saw Sam 'n' Eric watching the signal fire. "Hey guys," they greeted in unison.

"Hey, what's up?" they said in one voice.

"Nothing, really," Sam replied.

"We just stopped-"

"-a bad guy-"

"-from attacking-"

"-Simon."

The other twins shot a glance at each other. "Oh, really?"

"You guys kicked butt?"

Samneric nodded and grinned. As they conversed into the wee hours of the morning, none of them remembered anything about the fire. They talked about Roger all night. Due to their excitement, they looked forward to some of the rivalries on the rise, and that, in their opinion, would make their time on this island more worthwhile!

-x-x-x-

The next day, Ralph took a stroll on the beach by himself. He had no idea the conch did belong to someone else. The only thing he knew was that the cadets argued with a bunch of British schoolboys. He can recall seeing two Piggy's and two sets of Sam 'n' Eric. Chances are the tall boy Jack argued with was another Jack! Ralph quickly shook his head as he stared at the water.

'Am I missing something?' he asked inwardly. 'Yesterday's assembly did turn out strange. In fact, I hope those boys have different names!'

As he came to his senses, the answer was plain and simple. They wanted the conch, and they wanted it now! Ralph wasn't going to give up that easily. If a group of little schoolboys wanted possession of it, they'll have to come to his assemblies whether they liked it or not.

'Unless there's another shell like it,' he thought. 'But I doubt it!'

He turned to walk up the mountain when he saw a wisp of smoke. As he ran to it, there was no fire in sight. Just as he turned to walk away and find Piggy, two British boys appeared.

"Okay, Piggy," Ralph said. "Give me your specs."

"But I can't see without 'em," Piggy replied.

"So? Just pass them over and we'll have the signal going in no time!"

"Okay, since Samneric didn't do a good job," Piggy commented as he took his specs off.

Ralph raised an eyebrow. Specs? These boys were old school in his opinion. He decided to approach them when the other Ralph looked up at him. Time stood still as they both glared at each other. 'That's me,' they thought. 'The one they call chief!'


End file.
